Romford Ravens are holding one of England Rugby’s Inner Warrior taster sessions on January 20 to get more women involved in the sport.

The session, which will teach participants the basics of rugby, is completely free and will be run by coaches and officials from England Rugby.

Ravens captain Georgina Cox said: “The Inner Warrior taster session is a great way for beginners to get to grips with rugby, which can be quite a complex sport.

“Many women have never even touched a rugby ball before and so joining a training session with experienced players can be quite daunting. The Inner Warrior is a great way to try rugby because it is an opportunity for beginners to learn at their own pace, around others like them.”

The Ravens are now in their 15th year and in that time have shown how rugby can benefit the lives of women in Romford.

A Romford Ravens player goes on the attack (pic Mikey Hetherington)

Newbie Liz Leov, who works for the NHS, added: “Since joining the Ravens in July, my friends have noticed I am brighter and happier. Rugby has been a great way of offloading stress.”

Amy, who has played for the Ravens for two years at full-back, said: “Rugby has been a great way for me to make friends and has really improved my social life. There’s always someone to talk to and something going on.

“I’ve finally found a form of exercise I’ve actually managed to stick to. Rugby is great fun and with the sessions running twice a week there’s motivation to go.”

The Inner Warrior campaign was set up by England Rugby in 2015 and has seen 3,500 more women getting into the game, with a 215 per cent increase in female participation in rugby since 2013.

Ravens Tash Berbank, a This Girl Can ambassador, added: “A new year is always a great opportunity to make a change and try something new, so we hope women of Romford will see our Inner Warrior event as an opportunity to do just that!

“It’s a completely free event and with free pizza and prosecco for participants to enjoy afterwards, it’s a chance to have some fun and experience the social side too!”

The Inner Warrior event will be held at Romford & Gidea Park’s Crow Lane base on Saturday January 20 at 2pm and is open to all women over the age of 18. Anyone interested can sign up at romfordravensrugby.com or like Romford Ravens on facebook.